International aid organisation, Oxfam, has released its annual report on rising inequality, expressing concern that billionaires are not only wealthier than ever but are also cementing their control over politics, media and social media.

The report released on Sunday also underscored the widening chasm between the haves and have-nots in a world beset by conflicts and multiplying protests.

According to Oxfam’s analysis, the collective wealth of billionaires surged by $2.5 trillion in 2025, almost equivalent to the total wealth held by the bottom half of humanity, or 4.1 billion people.

Last year was also the first time that there were more than 3,000 billionaires in the world, and the first time that the world’s richest person, Elon Musk, had more than half a trillion dollars.

The charity’s annual report on rising inequality was released to coincide with the opening of the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, a meeting which hosts close to 1,000 of the world’s richest people together with political leaders, alongside a handful of invited activists each year.

The theme of this year’s meeting is A Spirit of Dialogue. However, Oxfam argued in its annual report that the superrich are increasingly controlling the means of communication, including both traditional and newer forms of media.

It cited examples of Jeff Bezos, the billionaire owner of Amazon, buying The Washington Post, Musk acquiring Twitter/X, Patrick Soon-Shiong taking over the Los Angeles Times newspaper and far-right billionaire Vincent Bollore owning France’s CNews.

“The outsized influence that the superrich have over our politicians, economies and media has deepened inequality and led us far off track on tackling poverty,” said Oxfam International Executive Director Amitabh Behar.

“Governments should be listening to the needs of the people on things like quality healthcare, action on climate change and tax fairness,” Behar added.

Oxfam also estimated that billionaires are 4,000 times more likely to hold political office than common citizens and cited a World Values Survey of 66 countries, which found that almost half of all people polled say the rich often buy elections in their country.

“The widening gap between the rich and the rest is at the same time creating a political deficit that is highly dangerous and unsustainable,” Behar said.

Oxfam also noted that there were 142 significant antigovernment protests across 68 countries last year, which it said authorities typically met with violence.

“Governments are making wrong choices to pander to the elite and defend wealth while repressing people’s rights and anger at how so many of their lives are becoming unaffordable and unbearable,” Behar said.

According to the WEF, participants at this year’s Davos meeting include “nearly 850 of the world’s top CEOs and chairpersons” alongside political leaders, including United States President Donald Trump, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng.

In addition to its political advocacy, Oxfam is also an aid organisation, delivering humanitarian assistance in countries around the world.

The group repeatedly sounded the alarm about forced starvation in Gaza under Israel’s genocidal war and was one of 37 international aid groups banned from the Palestinian enclave by Israel late last year. (Al Jazeera)

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